Rebuilding family life with the Bible in Mexico

At a small church in a poor rural Mexican community, I met four, passionate and gifted volunteer teachers who are using Bible Society’s materials to help rebuild families.

Stephen Opie, Bible Society Programme Director reports on the Learn and Prevent in order to Grow project in Mexico.

In communities like this, family life is often broken and unstable. It’s common for Mexican children and youth to struggle to navigate through very difficult circumstances at home and school.

Roxana (pictured above, second from right) teaches 4 – 6 year olds in this church. “In this community, in our case, the children are really ignored, they’re neglected. It’s a matter of giving them attention and helping them feel valued and they can feel like they not only have their parents, but they have God. And God loves them,” Roxana says.

Like so many other communities, family life here is “disintegrating”. These volunteers have seen firsthand how the programme has aided families in their communication. Catalina (pictured above, second from left) explains,

“It’s improved their Communication and their time together with their families. There’s a lot of brokeness and abuse and families are suffering. This material is creating values for the children which helps them unify with their families more. For us, this material has really been a big blessing.”

Young people play a game to teach them about boundaries.

Desperate to implement the programme wider, they shared it with local school teacher Veronica, (pictured above, far right), who now regularly uses the material at a nearby Junior High School with 13 and 14 year olds. “I shared it in school,” she says. “Not in a religious manner, as I’m not permitted to do that. But I applied it to some children that had a lot of behaviour problems. I applied it to strengthen their moral values. There were changes in some of the kids. They took better advantage of the opportunities at school and a lot of their negative attitudes were modified.

And there was a big change in the group they allowed me to share it with – in the end they were working together in a harmonious manner. And they started doing better at school.”

For many of the local children, growing up without a father is a reality. Lisbeth (pictured above, far left) grew up in this community and says that when the kids learn about God the Father, they change. “That’s when the children’s lives change and it really helps them grow. It’s really been useful for us,” she explains.

Caption: Children with materials they’ve received from Bible Society.

The Mexican Bible Society is passionate about reaching children and youth with the hope of the Bible. Will you help us equip volunteer teachers like Roxana, Catalina, Veronica and Lisbeth with the materials they need to help rebuild families?